Carly for America, a SuperPAC backing Carly Fiorina in her bid for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, is tapping into the Internet's Back to the Future obsession in an attempt to wrangle up support for its preferred candidate. While awkwardly co-opting pop culture is a political tradition, it's still surprising given how far the group is willing to go in terms of copyright infringement for its campaign.
National Review reporter Alexis Levinson noted a particular website for the Carly for America group, the URL of which =- 102115.com -- is the date for Back To The Future Day.
Carly Fiorina is fundraising (I think) off of this week's big Back to the Future moment https://t.co/D4NUtuTM6o— Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) October 19, 2015
The website is pretty bare save for the above video and a place to sign up for updates. The video features either Christopher Lloyd or a pretty good sound-alike, though the video hardly gives any clarity to the cause.
When you sign up, you receive an email containing the image below, which includes a few details that are begging for a cease-and-desist letter from Universal Pictures.
While on first glance the "Flux compression" appears to be an upside-down version of Back to the Future's "flux capacitor" in an attempt to skirt copyright violations, the image is actually the flux capacitor schematics used in the film. For shame, SuperPAC.
And there's the use of the name Emmet "Doc" Brown, the name of the scientist played by Christopher Lloyd in all three Back to the Future films. Using a different spelling of the name as it's listed in the film's credits is either a mistake or a lazy attempt to dodge more copyright trouble.
Things get even weirder when you look at the Twitter account associated with the SuperPAC's social media campaign, which uses the Doc Brown name again and even Christopher Lloyd's likeness.
Great scott! It's worse than I thought! Visit https://t.co/8olTzXnG28 to save the future! #BTTF #carly2016 https://t.co/3as4xNlzGk— Doc Brown (@DocBrown102115) October 19, 2015
A rep for Mr. Lloyd told Mashable today, "He did not approve this usage and he does not support [Fiorina]."
Mashable also reached out to the Carly For America group as well as Fiorina's campaign for comment and will update with any response.
Lest there's any confusion about the connection between the site and the pro-Fiorina SuperPAC, the group itself promoted it.
Be a part of the future! Visit https://t.co/AyGs1yTY7b #BTTF #BackToTheFuture #Carly2016 https://t.co/zzVO26nSg1— CARLY For America (@carlyforamerica) October 19, 2015
Playing fast and loose with copyright laws isn't anything new to the GOP race. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal used The Beatles and Anchorman clips in an ad deriding Donald Trump. And Trump himself has come under fire from several musicians, including Neil Young and R.E.M., for using their songs at campaign rallies without permission.